1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to hazard detection and suppression apparatus and to discharge valves for releasing gaseous, liquid, or dry material from a pressurized storage vessel, and in particular, to a hazard detection and suppression apparatus with a remotely-operated discharge valve for releasing material from a pressurized storage vessel.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
It is often desired to detect a hazard, such as a fire hazard, and to release a suppressant from a pressurized vessel to control or eliminate the hazard. A problem in the prior art is that such a hazard detection apparatus may fail and then become ineffective without providing an alert that the apparatus has failed. It is further often desired to provide a discharge valve to release a material, such as a gas or liquid or mixture thereof, or a dry material or powder, from a pressurized vessel when actuated by the hazard detection apparatus, and it is further desirable to have such a valve be remotely actuated. Often, the material to be released is corrosive and may corrode the internal components of the valve over time prior to actuation of the valve. Prior art approaches are known that use an explosive charge to cause a piston to drive a piercing element through a valve seal, and such approaches are undesirable if used with a flammable discharge material that might ignite.
It is therefore desirable to have a hazard detection and suppression apparatus that provides self-fail monitoring that can indicate when the apparatus has detected self failure. It is further desirable to provide a single-action discharge valve that can be remotely actuated to discharge the contents of a vessel under pressure when actuated by the hazard detection apparatus. It is further desirable that internal components of the valve not be exposed prior to actuation to the pressurized material to be released. Applications for such a valve include release of fire extinguishing material, release of counter-agents in biological and chemical warfare laboratories, and emergency release of fuel in airplanes and boats. When used for emergency release of fuel or other liquids, the valve can be used to discharge from a port on a bottom region of a vessel such as, for example, a fuel tank, and the weight of the liquid in the vessel provides pressure to discharge through the valve, and it is desirable that such a valve have a design that permits scaling from small to large sizes to accommodate a desired discharge rate.
A preliminary patentability search produced the following patents and patent publications, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Sundholm et al., U.S. Patent Application publication 2005/011552, published Jan. 20, 2005; Harris et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,180, issued Dec. 10, 1974; Rozniecki, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,237, issued Oct. 28, 1975; Zehr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,780, issued Feb. 8, 1977; Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,681, issued Jul. 6, 1999; Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,383, issued Dec. 26, 2000; Ahlers, U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,940, issued Jun. 21, 2005; and McLane, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,950, issued Oct. 10, 2006.
Additionally, the following patent references are also known: Hardesty, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,892, issued Oct. 5, 1976; Ball, U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,326, issued Dec. 27, 1983; Wittbrodt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,680, issued Jan. 16, 1990; Parsons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,953, issued Oct. 22, 1991; Swanson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,592, issued Apr. 5, 1994; Marts et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,043, issued Nov. 28, 1995; Brown, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,980, issued Feb. 6, 2001; James, U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,624, issued Feb. 20, 2001; Grabow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,404, issued Sep. 16, 2003; Tapalian, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,657,731, issued Dec. 2, 2003; van de Berg, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,507, issued Dec. 21, 2004; Bordynuik, U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,872, issued Oct. 3, 2006; Tice, U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,512, issued Jun. 19, 2007; Takayasu, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,242,789, issued Jul. 10, 2007; and BAE Systems PLC (Inventor: Goodchild), WIPO Publication No. WO 03/072200 A1, published Sep. 4, 2003.
Sundholm et al., U.S. Patent Application publication 2005/011552, at FIG. 2, discloses an explosive charge that propels a piercing element to pierce a disk, and FIG. 3 discloses a pressure-driven piston that causes a piercing element to pierce a disk. Harris et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,180, discloses an explosive detonator that causes a pin to pierce a valve seal and release a fire-extinguishing medium under pressure. Rozniecki, U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,237, discloses a ruptureable disc that is pierced by a cutting annulus that is moved by an explosive charge. At column 1, lines 45 to 50, Rozniecki discloses use of infrared and ultraviolet sensors to sense fire. Hardesty, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,892, discloses an explosive valve having an electrical detonator that shears a diaphragm seal. Zehr, U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,780, discloses a rupturing head for fire extinguishers wherein a fusible link melts and causes a spring-loaded punch to rupture a sealing disk. Ball, U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,326, at column 2, lines 42 through 60, discloses using two radiation detectors, which may be thermopile sensors viewing radiation through appropriate filters, one being sensitive to radiation within a narrow wavelength band centered at 0.96 microns and the other being sensitive to radiation within a narrow wavelength band centered at 4.4 microns. Wittbrodt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,680, discloses sensors for a fire suppressant system and, at column 3, lines 27-30, discloses the use of solenoid and explosive-activated squib valves. Parsons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,953, describes a fire detection system that comprises an infrared detector and a rotating optical assembly. At column 7, line 20, use of a thermal switch is disclosed. At column 7, line 30, use of a filtered thermopile is disclosed that senses filtered infrared at a wavelength of 4.35 microns. Swanson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,592, discloses an electrically-operated valve having a spring-biased check valve with a solenoid-actuated pilot valve. Marts et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,043, describes a Direct Current magnetic latching solenoid that retains a moving armature in a first or second position by a pair of magnets. At column 1, lines 19-55, it is disclosed that the solenoid is used to operate a series of irrigation control valves. Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,681, discloses a fire extinguishing system for automotive vehicles in which an explosive squib propels a pin extending axially from a piston to puncture a sealed outlet of a cylinder, thereby releasing extinguishing material, and an alternate embodiment discloses using a solenoid to propel the piston and pin. Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,383, has a similar disclosure to Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,681, and additionally discloses control circuitry with sensors. Ahlers, U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,940, discloses a valve in which a pressure cartridge actuator is used to cause a pressure wave that ruptures a frangible disc to release fire suppressant material. Brown, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,980, discloses a silver halide fiber optic sensor for detection and identification of petroleum. James, U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,624, discloses a fire extinguisher in which a matchhead detonator, of the type used in pyrotechnic devices, is used to move a piston with a sharp spike so that the spike ruptures a diaphragm and causes release of fire suppressant material. Tapalian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,657,731, discloses a miniaturized high-resolution chemical sensor using a waveguide-coupled microcavity optical resonator for sensing a molecule species that has applicability in the fields of manufacturing process control, environmental monitoring, and chemical agent sensing on the battlefield. Grabow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,404, discloses a fire extinguisher piping system below deck in an aircraft, with discharge nozzles in the passenger and crew compartments. van de Berg, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,507, discloses a sensor for detecting the presence of moisture, and uses a transmitter-receiver for generating an electromagnetic interrogation field. Bordynuik, U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,872, discloses a well-known radiation detector for dirty bomb and lost radioactive source detection applications. The detector combines indirect radiation detection using a scintillator and photodiode and direct radiation detection by placing the photodiode and a high gain amplifier in the path of radiation, and generates an alarm that indicates the presence of radiation. McLane, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,950, discloses a manual discharge fire suppression system in combination with either an electrically-operated explosive squib or an electrically-driven solenoid that moves a piston from a retracted position to a extended position, thereby causing a ram with a piercing member to pierce a seal and cause a fire suppressant to be released. Tice, U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,512, discloses a system and method for sensitivity adjustment for an electrochemical sensor to detect gasses including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, propane, methane, and potentially-explosive gases. Takayasu, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,242,789, discloses an image sensor that detects a moving body, and provides a movement direction and speed of a moving body that moves between two photodetector stations. BAE Systems PLC, WIPO Publication No. WO 03/072200 A1, describes a bolt and nut assembly with an integrated temperature sensor including a thermocouple, and an electronics module receives a signal from the sensor. At page 2, lines 7 through 10, this WIPO publication discloses that U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,326 discloses to use “two detectors . . . , each detector being sensitive to radiation in different wavelength bands, for example, narrow wavelength bands centered at 0.96 μm and 4.4 μm.”
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention.